I hadn't realized I was struggling with my mental health until I woke up one day and looked at the sky. Throughout high school, I struggled to find joy in my days. I was disorganized, stressed, and constantly seeking mental stimulation due to undiagnosed ADHD. This created a deep sense of self-loathing and self-hatred which I assumed, based on my friends' experiences with their mental health, was normal. I assumed that people didn't like themselves and didn't find much joy within their lives. After graduating high school, I joined the US Army. Unbeknown to me, this was the structure and pace my brain had been craving. On my fifth day of Basic Training, I watched the sunrise while running laps around our track. I hadn't looked up at the sky in years. The following nine weeks taught me what it felt like to thrive instead of just survive. This experience taught me a new set of values. My coping mechanisms consisted of delving deep into schoolwork and placing all my self-worth into grades. I struggled to find my identity as my grades steadily dropped in high school. There was no way I could be the best at Basic Training. I am not especially athletic, had never fired a weapon, and struggled to throw a grenade. When those pressures of being the best were taken away, I began to find value in the way I interact with people, in the skills that I hold (instead of the skills I believe I should hold), and in my patience and desire to see the good in everyone. This also changed my relationships with people. Suddenly, instead of judging people and trying to help them academically, I was bonding with people about what they were interested in. I learned to listen as I no longer felt the pressure to prove myself. I finally understood my self worth lay outside of my academic achievements and I was able to connect with people as humans. I work as a preschool teacher now while I'm completing my degree, and I'm still in the Army Reserves. I teach my students to talk about their emotions and to find happiness in their day. I am studying Psychology with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Development at Southern New Hampshire University and I use the knowledge I gain from those classes to make my classroom a happier and more inclusive space. I know what it feels like to have little passion for life. I know how it feels to be barely surviving day by day. I am working and will continue to work, to help children understand what it means to feel happy and to learn what they can do if they're struggling. I will continue to be the adult children can come to, I will continue to advocate to their parents on their behalf, and I will continue to make my classroom the happiest place it can be. We all deserve to thrive. We all deserve to see the sunrise.

Beethoven is my favorite artist and mathematician. He illustrated the critical link between art and music through his mathematically understandable pieces. Through studying sine waves, one can see why Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata sounds beautiful and one can begin to understand the importance of mathematical knowledge in composition. This mathematical knowledge let Beethoven continue to compose, even after losing his hearing, and illustrates the importance of studying both the sciences and the arts.

I hadn't realized I was struggling with my mental health until I woke up one day and looked at the sky. Throughout high school, I struggled to find joy in my days. I was disorganized, stressed, and constantly seeking mental stimulation due to undiagnosed ADHD. This created a deep sense of self-loathing and self-hatred which I assumed, based on my friends' experiences with their mental health, was normal. I assumed that people didn't like themselves and didn't find much joy within their lives. After graduating high school, I joined the US Army. Unbeknown to me, this was the structure and pace my brain had been craving. On my fifth day of Basic Training, I watched the sunrise while running laps around our track. I hadn't looked up at the sky in years. The following nine weeks taught me what it felt like to thrive instead of just survive. I work as a preschool teacher now while I'm completing my degree, and I'm still in the Army Reserves. I teach my students to talk about their emotions and to find happiness in their day. I am studying Psychology with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Development at Southern New Hampshire University and I use the knowledge I gain from those classes to make my classroom a happier and more inclusive space. I know what it feels like to have little passion for life. I know how it feels to be barely surviving day by day. I am working and will continue to work, to help children understand what it means to feel happy and to learn what they can do if they're struggling. I will continue to be the adult children can come to, I will continue to advocate to their parents on their behalf, and I will continue to make my classroom the happiest place it can be. We all deserve to thrive. We all deserve to see the sunrise.